Russian (turret) Universal Viewfinder on non-FSU camera?

[tdeprat]

Hi Everyone!

I am new to rangefinders and FSU cameras and was wondering if anyone here has put a Russian turret style universal viewfinder on a camera other than a FSU one.

I want to put it on my R3M. I asked Yuri of www.fedka.com and he said it was okay, but that I should cover the contacts as to not short anything.

Has anyone devised something to put on the contacts to not short anything? If you have, what does it look like? I was thinking about using felt pads .

You guys think that might work? I don't know if it's too thick or would mess something up too.

Thank you in advance for your help,

Theresa 😱

 

[Nomad Z]

I'd imagine the felt pads will be too thick - the gap between the underside of the foot on the finder and the base of the hotshoe will be very small. On mine, there is a shallow channel on the underside - it runs from front to back, is 12mm wide, and 0.3mm deep. This means that the underside of the foot will sit 0.3mm higher than the two strips at the sides which would be under the actual rails on the hotshoe. That should be enough to keep the middle part of the underside of the foot clear of the contacts, but it does kinda depend on the exact shape of the contacts - if they protrude a little, there could still be a short.

It should be possible to put some 12mm wide insulating tape in the channel, and this should prevent shorts, but may be susceptible to damage when the finder is fitted and removed. Kapton tape is good stuff - much better than normal electrician's tape (tough, ages very well, very stable in higher tempertures, and doesn't tend to ooze adhesive).

Having said all that, I think I'd be checking to see if there is actually a likelihood of something shorting out. How many contacts are there in your hotshoe?

 

[tdeprat]

Hi Nomad,

Thank you for your reply. I will look for that Kapton tape. The top of my hotshoe seems to only have one contact? It looks like these pictures from the cameraquest website. Again, I appreciate your help as I am a total newcomer to this.

Best Regards,

Theresa

 

[MartinP]

Isn't the flash contact just a switch? The power comes from the flash-unit -- in other words, no flash-unit, no electricity. The high-voltage flash problems one hears of in some cameras is due to the switch in the camera being electronic, rather than mechanical, and hence unable to cope with the high peak voltage of the trigger circuit in old flash-units (which were made before electronics superceded mechanical synchronisation switches).

In short, it doesn't matter. If there are TTL contacts (not on a simple Bessa I think?) then a partial 'maybe', but a piece of masking tape would be fine as insulation.

 

[Nomad Z]

If it's a single contact, I'd be rather surprised if there was a problem. In older cameras, a single contact type like that is nothing more than a switch - it's the mating contacts in the flashgun where the voltage is. On more modern cameras (like DSLRs), it's possible to damage the camera by using an old flashgun with a high voltage - there is some electronics in the camera which is used to trigger the flash, instead fo a switch. Even if the Bessa has electronics at the contact, I'd be tempted to think that it would resist a short circuit, especially considering that there are lots of metal accessories that fit into the hotshoe - it would be a serious design error to have cameras failing because people were fitting things like auxilliary meters and viewfinders. Also, from the pictures, it looks like the contact is shrouded a bit by a plastic surround. I can't say if the surface of the contact is below the plastic, but it could be. If that's the case, then I'd say there's virtually no chance of a short. And, as I said, I'd be very surprised if a short did result in damage.

 

[MartinP]

Isn't the flash contact just a switch? The power comes from the flash-unit -- in other words, no flash-unit, no electricity. The high-voltage flash problems one hears of in some cameras is due to the switch in the camera being electronic, rather than mechanical, and hence unable to cope with the high peak voltage of the trigger circuit in old flash-units (which were made before electronics superceded mechanical synchronisation switches).

In short, it doesn't matter. If there are TTL contacts (not on a simple Bessa I think?) then a partial 'maybe', but a piece of masking tape would be fine as insulation.

 

[rbiemer]

I can't see how there could be a problem with this. Yes, you probably are completing the flash circuit but there is no electricity involved. I suppose you might be able to give the turret finder a static charge--though I can't see any realistic way.
And, I use my FSU turret finder on my R2A with no problems I can detect other than the finder protrudes a bit more on the Bessa than on my FSU cameras.
I think I will have more wear on the flash contacts just from the FSU finder's foot being metal but I can live with that.
Rob

 

[t6un]

There ain't anything but the mechanical flash synchro switch under the contact on R3M -nothing to short there. It's theoretically possible with cameras that have dedicated flash systems
but even then those additional contacts are recessed and will not be that easy to short.
Edit: As said by 4 people before me🙂

 

[farlymac]

Just cut a piece from a blister pack, that you were going to throw away anyhow, to cover the contact. Cut a bunch of them, keep them handy for other times when you'll need them.

PF

 

[Roger Hicks]

Yes, I've done it, often, and never had a problem. As others have said, what couldbe the problem? Look at it this way. Unplug your toaster. Put your finger across the contacts on the plug. Do you electrocute yourself? No. Where's the electricity going to come from?

Cheers,

R.

 

[David Murphy]

The contacts are not energized - no need to worry. It will work great. They are good finders.

 

[tdeprat]

Everyone,

Thank you for all the answers. 😱

I really appreciate all the help being new to all this. I want to make sure I don't break something without even knowing how I broke it.

That would just be...tragic.


Best regards to everyone,

Theresa